1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key ring assembly, and more particularly to a key ring assembly having a retainer slidably received therein to effectively stop key fasteners from disengagement with the key ring assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional key ring assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,734 and shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Such a constructed key ring assembly mainly comprises a first half body (90), a second half body (91) coupled with the first half body (90) and a pivot member (93) pivotally received between the first half body (90) and the second half body (91). The first half body (90) having a first flange portion (92) which is laterally formed along a periphery thereof and projects outwardly therefrom and comprises a first distal end (921) and a second distal end (922), a hook member (94) comprising a first end portion (941) located above the first distal end (921) of the first flange portion (92) and a second end portion (942) integrally formed with the second distal end (922) of the first flange portion (92), a first opening (923) defined between the first distal end (921) of the first flange portion (92) and the second end portion (942) of the hook member (94), a first recess (98) defined in a face of the first half body (90) and a spindle (981) extending out from a surface of the first recess (98). The second half body (91) is coupled to the first half body (90) and comprises a second flange portion (93) laterally formed along a periphery thereof and projecting therefrom facing towards the first flange portion (92) and comprising a first free end (931) in alignment with the first distal end (921) of the first flange portion (92) and a second free end (932), a sliding groove (97) (see FIG. 6) defined between the first and second flange portions (92, 93), a second opening (933) defined between the first and second free ends (931, 932) of the second flange portion (93) and communicating with the first opening (96), a second recess (95) defined in a face of the second half body (91) and aligning with the first recess (98) and a through hole (951) defined in a surface defining the second recess (95).
The substantially C-shaped pivot member (99) is pivotally mounted between the first and second half bodies (90, 91) and has a retaining arm (991) integrally formed on the pivot member (99) and abutting against the first distal end (921) of the first flange portion (92) and the first free end (931) of the second flange portion (93) and in alignment with the first end portion (941) of the hook member (94) so as to form a loop, the retaining arm (991) being able to pivot with the pivot member (99) to slide between the first and second openings (923, 933). A biasing member (96) is mounted between the first and second half bodies (90,91) and comprises a first pressing end (961) abutting against the retaining arm (991) and a second pressing end (962) abutting against the second end portion (942) of the hook member (94).
Preferably, the first recess (98) and the second recess (95) respectively defined in the first and second half bodies (90,91) are respectively flush with the pivot member (99) for retaining the pivot member (99) in place. In addition, the pivot member (99) has a compartment (992) transversely defined therethrough for receiving the biasing member (96) therein. A cutout (993) is further defined in the pivot member (99) beside the retaining arm (991) and communicating with the compartment (992) for receiving the first and second pressing ends (961, 962) of the biasing member (96) therein. The spindle (981) of the first half body (90) is formed on a mediate portion thereof and extends through the compartment (992) and the through hole (951) so as to couple the first and second half bodies (90,91) together by means of such as rivet fitting arrangement.
However, by such an arrangement, there are still some shortcomings in the conventional key ring assembly of the type described above.
As known, the key ring assembly shown in FIG. 5 retains a key fastener (50) slidably received in the sliding groove (97) between the first half body (90) and the second half body (91) mainly by the abutting force of the biasing member (96) to the retaining arm (991). When the key fastener (50) is heavily loaded, the abutting force of the biasing member (96) will not be able to overcome the weight of the key fastener (50), so that keys (not numbered) suspended on the key fastener (50) are easily lost from this type of key ring assembly because of the load of the keys pushing away the retaining arm (991).
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional key ring assembly.